1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a colored resin powder to be used in a recording process such as an electrophotographic process, an electrostatic recording process, a magnetic recording process, a toner jet process, or a liquid development process, and to a toner using the colored resin powder.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for an improvement in image quality along with increasing popularity of a color image. In a digital full color copying machine or printer, a color original image is subjected to color separation with filters for blue, green, and red colors, and latent images corresponding to the original image are then developed with developers for magenta, cyan, and black colors. Therefore, a coloring agent in the developer for each color has a large influence on image quality. In general, when a pigment is dispersed in various media, it is difficult to sufficiently micronize the pigment and to homogeneously disperse the pigment.
Out of color toners, a magenta toner is important for reproducing a skin color. In addition, a skin color tone in a portrait is a halftone, and hence excellent developability is also required. As a coloring agent for the magenta toner, there have been conventionally known a quinacridone-based coloring agent, a thioindigo-based coloring agent, a xanthene-based coloring agent, a monoazo-based coloring agent, a perylene-based coloring agent, and a diketopyrrolopyrrole-based coloring agent.
Further, when a dye is used as the coloring agent for the magenta toner, although a bright magenta color is exhibited at an initial stage, stability to light is low, and a variation in color tint after leaving to stand is large. Further, a clear image having high lightness is obtained in a pale color, but it is difficult to obtain a sufficient image density in a region having a deep color. Particularly in the case of mixing colors and reproducing red and blue as deep colors, a color development range is liable to become narrow. The xanthene-based coloring agent is a coloring agent satisfactory in color reproducibility and excellent in color tone. However, when the coloring agent is used in a solution state, its light fastness becomes remarkably poor, and thus various contrivances are required (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-255882 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-117536). Such magenta coloring agent is satisfactory in compatibility with a binder resin and light fastness and provides a magenta toner excellent in tribocharging characteristic and color tone in a fashion. However, there is a demand for a magenta toner having more additionally improved color tone, saturation, and electrophotographic characteristics in order to obtain an image which satisfies transparency and is more faithful to an original image.